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THE RIGHTS OF THE FREE STATES SUBVERTED, 

OR, 

An enumeration of some of the most prominent instances in which the Federal Con- 
stitution has been violated by our National Government, for the benefit of Slavery. 

BY A MEMBER OP CONGRESS, 

INTRODUCTION. 

Perhaps no- subj,ect was ever more generally misunderstood than the contest now going on between a 
portion of tlie people of the free States and those who are attached to the slaveholding interests of the 
South. Until quite recently, the southern doctrine, from the adoption of the Constitution, has been, that 
" Slavery is strictly a State institution, over which the Federal Government has no control.'''' This is believed 
by the people of the North, generally, to be the constitutional doctrine ; those who dissent from it are so 
few that thpy can hardly be said to form an exception. That eminent statesman, Henry Clay, in 1844, 
declared that " the existence, maintenance and continuance of slavery must depend entirely upon the power and 
authority of the States in which it exists. ' '* 

From this position few northern men will dissent. All agree that Congress has no pov/cr to uphold 
it; and if the States in which it exists are unable to sustain it, it should be left to perish. Congress pos- 
sesses no power to compel the people of the free States to uphold the slavery of the South : neither has 
it any power to compel the slave States to abolish it. It cannot interfere for either purpose. Still, south- 
ern politicians and southern statesmen have so often reiterated the fact, that northern men were endeavor- 
ing to interfere witli their '■'peculiar institution,'''' that many northern statesmen yet seem to be uncon- 
scious that those who have said and done most in regard to the encroachments of slavery, have merely 
endeavored to protect the rights of the free States, and to preserve the Constitution from being subverted. 
They have put forth their efforts to save the people of the North from being unconstitutionally involved 
in the expense and crime of supporting slavery. 

The most objectionable feature of our Constitution, is that provision which gives to the slave States a 
representation in Congress proportioned to the mimber of slaves which they hold. This was a pnvilege 
conceded to those States. By it they now have nineteen members of Congress more than they would be 
entitled to were freemen alone included in the ratio of representation. Yet these members, like the oth- 
ers, are bound by the Constitution, and possess no right to pervert the Government to the support of sla- 
very. Again : it is supposed by some, that that provision of the Constitution which relates to the arrest 
of fugitive slaves, directly involves the people of the free States in the support of slavery. But under the 
construction which that clause has received, it appears that the whole power of Congress consists in pro- 
hibiting the people of the free States from interfering to prevent the master, or his agents, from arresting 
his fugitive slave. "We may feed, and clothe, and lodge the slave, knowing him to be a fugitive. It 
seems that we may go farther: we may inform him of his rights, tell him how to escape, and furnish 
him with arms to defend himself, without making ourselves liable under the Constitution or laws of the 
United States. We may also refuse to feed, or to lodge the slaveholder while in pursuit of his slave; we 
may spurn him from our presence; and we may stand and see hi.s slave defend himself, even to taking 
the master's life, and incur neither moral nor legal responsibility. Yet we may not secrete the slave 
from, nor defend him against, his master So far as this supineness involves us in a negative support of 
slavery, so far aie we liable to maintain that institution. Again : it is urged by some that, so far as the 
Constitution makes it the duty of the Federal Government to suppress internal violence, it subjects tho 
people of the free States to the support of slavery. The duty of tlie Federal Government goes only so 
far as to siippress the violence. It takes no notice of slavery. But if slaves commit violence in order to 
obtain their liberty, such violence must be suppressed. Yet, when the violence ceases, the power of the 
Government ceases. Our troops cannot go farther and deliver the insurgents to their masters, nor can 
they enquire whether they be masters or slaves. The business and duty of our troops is with the vio- 
lence, and not with slavery. But so far as the suppression of domestic violence tends to the support a? 
slavery, so far the people of the free States may constitutionally be compelled to support that institution. 
I make this explanation in order that I may be definitely understood. Taking this as the true construc- 
tion of the Constitution, we must regard every exercise of the national influence for the purpo.se of sus- 
taining slavery, every payment of money from the national treasury, every employment of the navy or 
of the army for such purpo.se, as violations of that instrument. 

It is intended in the following pages, to lay before the reader some of the most prominent instances in 
which the Federal Government have violated the Constitution, and trampled upon the rights of the free 
States, in order that slavery might be upheld and protected. It is intended to confine the enumeration to 
actual violations of the Constitution, and to pass unnoticed all those attempts which have failed to wield the 
power and influence of the Government to that purpose. Nor is it intended to notice any of those in- 
stances in which an indirect .support has been extended to that institution. In short, the object is to col- 
lect, within as short a space as may be convenient, only those prominent instances in which the Consti- 
tution has been U-ampled upon for the benefit of the slave interest, without embracing any of doubtful 
character, and witliout pretending to enumerate all of those v/hich are not regarded as doubtful. 



•Vide Mr. Clay's letter to the editor of the Lexington Observer, Sept. 2, 1844. 



"With these explanatory remarks, we will proceed to examine some of those instances 
in which our Federal compact has been violated — •. \ ,;■ 

By treaty stipulations. 

On the 7th Aug\ist, 1790, the United Slates concluded a treaty with tlie Creek Indians, 
in which they distincdy agreed to deliv rir up the negroes then residing within their ter- 
ritory, to the officers of the United States; and if not delivered on or before the first 
day of June following the date of the treaty, the Governor of Georgia was authorized to 
appoint three persons to repair to the Indian country to demand them. The negroes 
thus to be surrendered, had left tlieir masters during the Revolutionary war and subse- 
quently thereto; and the Federal Government now interposed its influence to get them 
back to their masters. For this, and other stipulations on the part of the Indians, the 
United States agreed to pay them an annuity of fifteen hundred dollars, togetlier with 
certain goods mentioned in the treaty.* This is believed to be the first instance in which 
the Federal Government was exerted to perpetuate slavery instead of liberty. By this 
treaty, the people of the free States were involved in the expense of restoring the fugi- 
tive slaves of Georgia, and from tliat day to the present lime, they have been annually 
taxed to meet the stipulations of this treat}-, and will continue to be taxed under these 
stipulations while we remain a nation, and the Creek Indians shall constitute an inde- 
pendent tribe. 

But the Indians neglected to deliver the negroes; and on the 31st December, 1795, 
the Secretary of War communicated to the President the fact, that the Indians had dis- 
regarded their compact, in neglecting to deliver the slaves under the treaty of 1790, and 
advised that the slaves be paid for by the United States.! 

This communication was sent to the Senate and House of Representatives by the 
President on the 12th January following, but no final action appears to have taken place 
at that time.t On the 29th of June, 1796, another treaty was entered into between the 
United States and the Creek Indians, called " the treaty of Coleraine." By the terms 
of this latter treaty, the Indians again covenanted to deliver up to the officers of the U. 
States, such negroes as were resident in their nation ; and if ihey were not delivered by 
the first day of January next following the date of the treaty, then the Governor of Geor- 
gia was authorized to appoint three persons to repair to the Creek nation and demand 
said negroes, under direction of the President of the United States.^ In consideration 
of this, and otlier stipulations, the United Stages covenanted to pay the Indians six thou- 
sand dollars in goods, and to furnish them with two blacksmiths and strikers, tools, &;c., 
&c. Thus were the people of the free States again involved in the expense and disgrace 
of sustaining slavery, for the sole benefit cf the slaveholders of Georgia. It should also 
be understood, that at the conclusion of this treaty, many of the slaves from the ^^Upper 
Creek towns" were brought in and delivered to the officers of Government, who con- 
descended to act with the Indians as the assistant catchpolls of southern slaveholders.il 

Thus were the people of the whole nation taxed and again dishonored for the benefit 
of an institution most palpably beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, and 
abhorrent to the feelings of the people generally. 

The slaves of Georgia, however, continued to flee from bondage, and to seek an asy- 
lum among the Indians ; and many who had left prior to the treaty of 1790, remained 
in the Indian country, intermarried with the Seminoles, or " Southern Creeks," as they 
Avere then called, and became permanently incorporated with various bands known as 
the " Florida Indians."^ 

The people and government of Georgia were constantly making eff"orts to get the U. 
States to obtain a return of the slaves who were living with the Indians ; but these ef- 
forts proved of little use, as the Indians neglected to restore any of them.** In 1802, 
a general law regulating intercourse between the people of the United States and the In- 
dian tribes, was enacted by Congress. By the terms of this law, the agent for paying 

*Laws of tlie United States, 1 vol., 359.— 6th American State Papers, 81. f 5 American State Papers, 
546. + American State Papers, vol. 5, page 546. § Amer. State Papers, vol. 5, page 586. Laws U. 
S., vol. 1, page 363. |J Vide 6 vol. American State Papers, page 252. H House Doc. 271, Ist Sea., 24th 
Congress. *• 5 American State Papers, 249. 



annuities was authorized to retain from the annuities of any tribe, the value of any pro- 
perty taken from the white people by Indians belonging to such tribe.* Under this 
law, it is said, that a compensation was retained by the agent of the United States, for 
all slaves who left their masters, and went to unite with the Indians, subsequent to the 
passage thereof. On this point the writer speaks from verbal information, and not from 
^official documents. It is, however, certain, that the people of Georgia could neimer get 
"^ the negroes who had left their masters prior to the passage of the law, nor could they ob- 
^ tain compensation for their loss. They therefore became importunate in their demands 
j.^ upon the Federal Government, to interfere more efiectually for the protection of slavery 
^in that State. The Executive finally determined to make another effort to aid the 
^> slaveholders of Georgia in obtaining their slaves, or to extort from the Indians a com- 
V pensation for their loss.t To effect this object, arrangements were made by the Execu- 
^^ tive of the U. States and the Executive of Georgia, for negotiating another treaty with 
the Indians; at the making of which, the State of Georgia should be represented by her 
authorized agents, in order that the claims of her slaveholders should be duly regarded.! 
Instructions were given to the commissioners, who netjotiated the treaty on the part of the 
United States, to lend to the agents of Georgia everv aid that rai^ht tend to effect the 
object of their mission. § 

The commissioners on the part of the U. States, and those on the part of Georgia, met 
the chiefs, warriors and head men of the Creeks at "Indian Spring," about the 2.5;h De- 
cember, 1821. On the 27th, the commissioners of Geoirgia delivered their talk to the In- 
dians, in which they assured the Indians, that "m order to keep the chain of friendship 
bright befiveen the white and red people, it was necessary that they should do justice 
TO EACH OTHER." They then reminded the Indians of their stipulation to return negroes, 
contained in the treaties of New York and Coleraine, and delivered to the Indians a list 
of their claims.]! The next day. Gen. Mcintosh, principal chief, replied, that -'he did 
not know that he was called here to answer for the claims of Georgia, until they had re- 
ceived the talk of the commissioners yesterday — that most of tlie items he knew nothing 
about." That Gen. McGilvery, who negotiated the treaty of N. York more than thirty 
years before, when he returned, informed their people that they were to deliver up the ne- 
groes then in the nation: but they were not to be liable fur any that were dead or re- 
moved. That many of them were collected at the time of the treaty of Coleraine, and 
■delivered to the agent of the U. States. That others were subsequently delivered to Col. 
Hawkins, who never mentioned to them any claim under the treaty of Coleraine, but 
mentioned that of N. York. That many of the negroes had been carried away by the 
Britisii at the close of the war; that in 1816, many of these negroes were in the fort on 
the Apalachicola river; that most of them were killed, and those that were not killed 
were delivered to Col. Clinch — and many of the negroes had gone into Florida among 
the Seminoles. That he had himself, with his warriors, joined Gen. Jackson's army, 
and gone with tliem into Florida, where they took some of those negroes, and delivered 
them to the agent of the U. States, and that others still remained among the Seminoles. 
Ttiat if the President admitted that country to belong to the Creeks, he would take his 
warriors and go and bring up as many as they could get, and deliver them up to the U. 
States. He thought the Creeks had fairly complied with their treaties in good faith. ^ 
In reply to this, the commissioners of Georgia insisted that the Indians ought to pay 
for the neoToes carried away by the British at the close of the war, and for those among 
the Seminoles, " and for the increase ef all that had taken up their residence among 
the Indians.''' This demand was rejected by the Indians. It was, however, agreed 
to refer all the claims of Georgia against the Indians to the President,** and a stipulation 
was made in the treaty, by which the U. States were to hold $250,000 due from the U. 
States to the Indians, in trust for the payment of such claims as the President should re- 
gard just and proper.tt The President took upon himself the discharge of thus esti- 
* mating the value of the slaves, and the propriety of paying for their increase. Commis- 
sioners were appointed for that purppse, who, after full examination, estimated the amount 

• Laws U. S., 2 vol., 360. 1 6 American State Papers, 248, 257. t 6 American State Papers, 254. 
§6 American State Papers, 250. || 6 American State Papers, 251. f 6 American Suite Papers, 252. 
** 6 American State Papers, 2o6. jf 6 American Slate Papers, 249. 



that should be paid to the slaveholders of Georgia, in full of all demands, at $101,000. 
This sum, according to the report of Mr. Wirt, Attorney General of the U. States, was 
made up by estimating the price of the negroes at two or three times their real value.*" 
This money being paid over to the owners of slaves, left in the hands of the Government 
$149,000 belonging to the Indians. That amount was retained by Government for some 
years, until the owners of slaves having already received two or three times their real 
value, petitioned Congress to distribute the remaining sum among them as an additional 
compensation. Congress made the appropriation, and the money was paid to them, and 
the Indians were thus defrauded by the General Government of $149,000, in order to 
enrich the slaveholders of Georgia, in addition to paying two or three times the real 
value ot the negroes. t 

Thus was the Constitution violated, and ihe people of the free States involved in one 
of the grossest frauds ever practised upon an offending tribe of helpless Indians, for the 
purpose of protecting the slaveholding interests of Georgia. It should also be borne in 
mind that these things were transacted at a period when all southern statesmen very cor- 
rectly denied that '^Congress or the Federal Government possessed any powers what- 
ever in relation to slavery.^'' During a period of more than thirty years was the influ- 
ence of the Federal Government exerted for the purpose of obtaining these fugitive slaves, 
or in extorting from the Indians a compensation for their owners. The Senate were 
called upon to approve those treaties. Congress was called on to pass laws, and to ap- 
propriate money to carry tliose treaties into efTect, and the people of the free States to pay 
tjie money and bear the disgrace, in order that slavery may be sustained. But the conse- 
quences of these efforts still continue, and the Government has to this day been unable 
to extricate itself trom the difficulties into which these exertions in behalf of slavery pre- 
cipitated it. And the people of the free States are to this day taxed and dishonored, ia 
consequence of these violations of their constitutional rights. These facts will be more 
fully illustrated when we examine our subsequent relations with the Seminoles and 
Creeks. But we will now look to our separate treaties with the Seminole Indians. 

The first treaty between the U. States and these Indians bears date at " Camp Moul- 
trie," September 18, 1823, By this treaty the U. States agreed to pay them $6,000, 
and an annuity of five thousand for twenty years; besides $1,000 yearly for twenty 
years, to be expended in the support of a school, and the like sum for the same period 
to be expended in the support of a gun and blacksmith. 

By the 7th article of said treaty, the Indians obligated themselves '7o he vigilant and 
active in preventing the retreating to or passing through the district of country as- 
signed them, of any absconding slaves or fugitives from justice." They further stip- 
ulated " to use all necessary exertions to apprehend and deliver" such fugitive slaves to 
the agent of the United States. "J Thus was the money of the nation again appropri- 
ated direcdy for the purpose of catching southern slaves, and returning them to their 
masters, while the people of the North were constantly told that the Federal Govera- 
ment possessed " no constitutional potver in relation to slavery.''^ 

Before we proceed further, it will be well to caution the reader to bear in mind the his- 
torical fact, that, prior to the making of this treaty with the Seminole Indians in 1823, 
they had been regarded as a portion of the Creek tribe, from whom they separated, and 
■were .therefore called "Seminoles," or "■runaivays. "It has already been stated that a 
large portion of these slaves, who had left Georgia prior to 1802, had united with these 
bands of Seminoles, liad intermarried, and become incorporated with them. They had 
been paid for by the Creeks at the rate of five or six times their real value, and the Creeks 
having paid their money for them, sent their agents among the Seminoles to demand them 
as slaves, not doubting that they had derived a good title to them and their oflTspring, from 
tlie Government of the U. States. § But the Seminoles, unwilling to surrender their 
wives and children to the Creeks, and being vexed and harrassed with these and other 
demands made upon them for slaves, were induced to enter into the treaty of "Payne's. 

♦ Ex. Doc, 1st Ses., 26th Congress, vol. G, No. 123. f Laws U. S., 9 vol., 117. X Vide treaty, 7 vol. 
IT. S. Laws, 708. § Vide report of Wiley Thompson, agent of the U. States for the Seminole Indians, 
^. Doc. 125, 3d session 25th Congrees, 



Landing," in May, 1832, by which they stipulated to remove Wefet, and re-unite with 
the Creeks. The 7th article of that treaty is in the following words : 

"The Seminoles, being anxious to be relieved from repeated vexatious demands for 
slaves, (and other property alleged to have been stolen or destroyed by them,) so that 
they may remove unembarrassed to their new homeg, the United States stipulate to have 
the same properly investigated, and to liquidate such as may be satisfactorily establish- 
ed, provided the amount does not exceed seven thousand dollars."* 

Here, again, the money collected in the free States was paid over directly to the slave- 
holders of Georgia, and Alabama, and Florida, as a compensation for their fugitive slaves. 
And so little objection was made to it, that few of the people of the North were informed 
of the fact. The Creeks, however, were not satisfied with this arrangement, but continued 
to press the Seminoles to surrender their wives and children, as the property of the Creeks. 
It will be recollected that the Seminoles had agreed in the treaty to remove west, and 
to re-unite with the Creeks. But to emigrate under such circumstances would be to 
place themselves in the power of the Creeks, who would thus gain possession of those 
whom they claimed as slaves, but who were in truth wives and children of the Semi- 
noles. They therefore preferred to remain and fight the whites, rather than go to 
the west, and permit their wives and children to become slaves. They were, however, 
overpowered, and compelled to emigrate. But when carried west of Arkansas they 
dared not go into the Creek country, but settled down upon the territory belonging to 
the Cherokees. Here they remained. The Cherokees protested against this act of the 
Seminoles. The Creeks were anxious to have the Seminoles remove within their ju- 
risdiction, in order to get their slaves, which they had purchased so dearly of the Fede- 
ral Government, while the Seminoles dared not place themselves in the power of the 
Creeks; and during several years this triangular contention kept those tribes in a state 
of turmoil, and almost constantly threatened them, and the United States with war. 
.This state of things was wholly brought about by the efforts of our Government to ob- 
tain pay for the fugitive slaves of Georgia. The Executive was not an idle spectator 
of these facts. Efforts were constantly made to arrange the difficulty, but without suc- 
cess, until December last, when it is said that a treaty was effected between the United 
States on one part, the Cherokees of another part, the Creeks of another part, and the 
Seminoles of the fourth part. We are entirely indebted to reports communicated through 
the public press, and received from ofliicers of Government, in respect to this treaty and 
its terms. It has not been officially made known to the people. But so far as we are 
able to learn the treaty provides: 1, that the Seminoles shall leave the Cherokee lands, 
and shall settle upon the tract assigned to the Creeks. 2. Their wives and children and 
husbands shall remain free, 3. The Seminoles shall pay to the Creeks, for their wives, 
husbands, and children, such sums as shall be awarded by the President of the U. States. 
Thus we shall exhibit to the civilized world the singular fact of the Executive of the__ 
only free nation upon earth, gravely estimating the value of men, of women, and ot 
children, sold and transferred by our Government to a savage and barbarous people. 
Yet is the question often asked by northern men, ''What have ive to do with slavery?"' 
I answer, we are compelled to pay our money, involve ourselves in crime, degrade our 
character, and see our constitutional rights subverted, in order that slavery may be sus- 
tained. The first and last treaty with those southern Indians were negotiated for the 
benefit of slavery: indeed, most"^ of our treaties with them since 1789 have contamed 
some provisions for the benefit of the slave-holding interest. 

Treat}/ with England. 
During the late war with Great Britain many slaves escaped from their masters in the 
southern States, and sought protection under the British flag. In the first article of the trea- 
ty of Ghent a stipulation was inserted for the restoration of slaves, understood by the com- 
missioners who negotiated the treaty on the part of Great Britain to refer to those slaves 
who had been captured in certain forts ; but by our Government understood to refer to 
all those slaves who had escaped from their masters during the war, and who had sought 
British protection. The construction given to the treaty by our Executive was urged 



^ Vide treaty of Payne's Landing, 9 vol. U. S. Laws, 1240. 



upon the British ministry with such persevering energy that a compromise was effected, 
by which they agreed to pay to the Government of the United J^tates one million two 
hundred and four thousand dollars, for the benefit of those Southern planters who had 
lost their slaves.* Thus the Executive assumed to act as the protector of slavery, and 
the influence of the Government was prostituted to the support of that institution. The 
money was received; and Congress lias often sat in grave deliberation as to the manner 
of distributing this money among those who claimed to own the flesh and blood, the 
bones and sinews, of their fellow men. 

Treaty with ^pain. 
By the last clause of the 9th article of our treaty with Spain, entered into in Febru- 
ary, 1819, our Government became obligated to " cause satisfaction to be made for the 
injuries, if any, which by process of law should be established to have been suffered 
by the Spanish officers and the individual Spanish inhabitants, by the late operations of 
the American army in Florida."! In March, 1823, a law was passed for the purpose of 
carrying this clause of the treaty into eftect;± and another was passed in January, 1834, § 
extending the benefits of this treaty to such persons as suffered by the invasion of our 
troops in 1812 and '13. In 1838 Felix Grundy, Attorney General'of the United States, 
gave a written opinion to the Secretary of the Treasury, that slaves were property, and 
ought to be paid for under that treaty and the laws to carry it into effect. || Upon the 
strength of this opinion of a slave-holding Attorney General, Secretary Woodbury al- 
lowed compensation for some ninety slaves, and some forty thousand dollars, mostly 
drawn from the people of the free States, were paid to slaveholders of Florida; and it 
is worthy of remark, that nearlj' if not all these claims had been rejected by former Se- 
cretaries and by Congress. (Vide record in office of the Register of the Treasury.) 

Moiieys paid f) am the Treasury without authority of law. 

The attention of the reader will be hereafter called to the fact, that certain monies re- 
ceived from the British Government, as a compensation to the owners of slaves who re- 
gained their liberty from on board the slave ships "Comet and Encomium," were left 
in the treasury M'hen Mr. Van Buren and his cabinet retired from office. The fact that 
such money remained in the treasury, and a call upon the owners of the slaves to claim 
it, was published in the newspapers of Washington and of the southern States. The 
expense of these advertisements were charged over to the Government; but the money 
of the slaveholders was retained as a sacred treasure, and the full amount paid over tO' 
lliose who established their claims to the slaves.^ 

When the Seminole Indians emigrated west of the Mississippi, many negroes emi- 
grated with them, as a part of the tribe. After they were gone slaveholders of Georgia 
and of Florida, professing to own those negroes, called on the Treasury Department to 
pay f)r them, and they received full compensation from the national treasury.** These 
payments were made by the Treasury Department after the claims had been rejected by 
Congress, and against the entire practice of the Government up to that period. 

Interference of the Executive with other governments , to prevent the extension 

of human rights. 
When the Spanish Colonies on this continent became independent of the parent gov- 
ernment they emancipated their elaves. Fears were entertained by our Government 
that they would extend their aid to Cuba, in which case emancipation would take place 
in that I.sland. The effect of extending liberty to the slaves of Cuba was foreseen and 
dreaded. Our representatives to the Congress of Panama were, therefore, instructed to 
state to those represented in that body, explicitly, that tlie United States would not per- 
mit a war of emancipation to be waged in Cuba, lest the example might be attended 
with serious consequences to the slaves of this Union. tt To prevent the extension of 
civil liberty to the slave population of Cuba, great efforts were put forth by our Govern- 
ment to induce the King of^ Spain to acknowledge the independence of his revolted co- 

< * Laws of ihe U. S., vol. 8, 693. f Laws of the U. S., vol. 1, 622. t Law.s of the U. S., vol. 7, 166. 
I Laws of U. S., vol. 9, 59. || Ex. Doc, No. 123, 2d Session 26th Congre.5s. TT Expenditure of the State 
Depart., 1840. ** Expenditures of the Indian bureau, 1843. ]-\ Letter of Instructions, May 8, 1826. 



lonies ; and the Emperor of Russia was solicited to use his influence with the Spanish' 
Government to effect that object.* 

Attempts of the Executive to obtain fugitive slaves from Canada and Mexico. 

Every reader is aware that- great numbers of slaves have left their masters in the 
northern slave States, and sought security under the British Government in Canada. ' 
Others from the more southern slave States have found their way to Mexico. The pro- 
fits of the institution being thus affected, the Executive appears to have regarded it as 
an official duty to lend the influence of the nation to prevent the recurrence of such 
losses. Our minister at liOndon was therefore instructed to obtain a stipulation with 
the British Government, for the mutual surrender of fugitive slaves. The proposition 
was made, and urged, until bur minister was distinctly informed, that such an arrange- 
ment on the part of Great Britain was impossible.! The proposal was, however, sub- 
sequently pressed upon the British minister by express instructions, until that function- 
ary assured our representative, that " the. law of Parliament gave freedom to every 
slmve who shdidd land on British ground^ But the efforts of our Government were 
more successful with the Mexican minister, with whom a treaty for the surrender of 
fugitive slaves was actually negotiated ; but it was rejected by the Mexican Congress, 
when presented for its ratification, and further attempts on the subject were given up. 

Employment of the army and navy to sustain slavery. 

After the close of the war with Great Britain in 1815, the fugitive slaves began to 
collect on the east side of the Apalachicola river, some fifteen miles from its mouth, in 
the territory of Florida. Here they erected a fort, and provided themselves with arms, 
ammunition, and provisions. They opened plantations in the vicinity of the fort, and 
commenced farming. They soon attracted the attention of the slaveholders, who be- 
came alarmed at these indications of freedom. Reports to the Federal Executive were 
made of the dangeroiai character of these fugitives, whose sole object was to live in 
the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their liberty. Military officers of the United States 
directed their attention to this state of facts, and a correspondence, occupying many 
pages in regard to this collection of fugitive slaves, may be found among the Executive 
documents of the 2d session 15th Congress. 

The Secretary of War issued orders to Gen. Jackson, directing him to notify the 
commandant of Pensacola that such a Fort existed, "and was occupied by some two 
hundred and jifty or three hundred negroes, who inveigled the slaves from the frontier 
of Georgia; and that if it should be determined that the subject did not require the in- 
terference of Congress, measures would be taken for its destruction." General Jackson 
issued or'.lers to General Gaines " to destroy the fort, and to restore the negroes to 
their oivners.^^ General Gaines issued his orders to Col. Clinch, who advanced with- 
in a mile or two of the fort, and attempted a cannonade, but appears to have failed in 
making any impression upon it. At the same time. Commodore Patterson had des- 
patched two gunboats for the reduction of this fortress. They ascended the river, took' 
their positions opposite the fort, and, by firing hot shot, blew it up. There were about 
two hundred and eighty negroes, including women and children, in the Fort, together 
with some twenty Indians. Of the whole number, two hundred and seventy were 
killed, and several others mortally wounded.J Among them, were some of those fugi- 
tives who had left their masters in Georgia prior to 1790, and for whom the Creek In- 
dians subsequently paid four or five times their real value, as heretofore shown. Those 
who were neither killed nor mortally wounded, were seized by our troops, and restored 
to their masters. § No act or offence against the United States is alleged against these 
people, except that thev fled from slavery. For that alone they were thus murdered 
by the Federal Government. — , 

" The deep damnation of their taking off," 
lests on the people of the free, as well as of the slave States. Yet are the inhabitants of 



* Instructions to Mr. Middleton, May 10, 1825. f Vide Mr. Gallatin's? Letter, July 5, 1827. J Vide 
Com. Patterson's report, 2d Session 15th Congress. § Ex. Doc. 2d Session 15th Congress. 



the north insulted by the constant assertion that the '■'■ Federal Government cannot inter- 
fere in any ivay concerning slavery.^'' 

This barbarous murder aroused in the negroes and Indians a spirit of hostility to the 
whites. On the 25th March, 1818, the President communicated to the Senate such in- 
formation as he possessed in relation to the then existing war with the "Seminole In- 
dians." Among other matters, was an extract of a letter from George Ferryman to 
Lieut. Sands, dated February 24, 1817, in which the writer, speaking of the Indians on 
Flint River, remarks : " They speak in the most contemptuous manner of the Ameri- 
cans, and threaten to have satisfaction for what has been done — meaning the des- 
truction of the negro Fort. Another of my acquaintances (says he) returned imme- 
diately from the Seminole towns, and saw the negroes on parade there. He counted 
about six hundred that bore arms. They have chosen officers of every description, and 
endeavor to keep up a regular discipline. There is said to be about the same number 
of Indians, and both Indians and negroes are daily going to their standard."* In No- 
vember, 1817, while communicating intelligence of the first skirmish between our 
troops and the Indians, General Gaines says : " The reports of friendly Indians concur 
in estimating the number of hostile warriors, including the Redsticks and Seminoles, at 
more than two thousand, besides blacks, amounting to four lumdred men, and increasing 
by runaways from Georgia,"! Gen. Jackson, in making report of the first battle after 
liis arrival upon the theatre of war, speaks of the combined forces of " Indians and ne- 
groes-^'X If* his report of the battle at Suwanee, he says there were " 7iine negroes 
and two Indians killed," and "two negro men taken prisoners." He also reported 
" nine Indians and five negroes taken prisoners" the next day.§ In his letter of May 
5, 1818, to the Secretary of War, announcing the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambris- 
ter, Gen Jackson charges those men with having excited " this negro war." And in 
liis memorial to the Senate, he declares that " acting as chiefs of the negroes and In- 
dians, Arbuthnot and Ambrister had become iden'ified with those monsters — asso- 
ciates in ivar. Great Britain (says he) would not interfere, to prevent those miscreants 
from instigating fugitive negroes and Indians to the burning and pillaging the buildings 
and scalping the inhabitants of Georgia and Alabama. "|| 

On the trial of those men, witnesses were brought forward, to show that they had in- 
tercourse with the negroes, and that they had encouraged ihem to defend themselves 
against the whites ; and one witness swore that Ambrister at one time commanded a 
party of negroes and had dealt out to them ammunition, goods, paints, &c.: and another 
swore that he had heard that Arbuthnot advised, that William Hambly, a prisoner, 
should be delivered over to six Indians, who were in the Fort when it was blown up, 
and escaped. A letter from Arbuthnot to his son, was read in evidence and regarded as 
important. In that letter he declared, " the main object of the Americans is to des- 
troy the black population on the Suwanee.y^ 

in short, in the reports of nearly all the battles fought during that war, the negroes 
appear to have acted a conspicuous part ; and in nearly all the documentary evidence 
before me, they appear to have been regarded as principals in the war. 

In an address of die Seminoles to Governor Cameron, dated in April, 1818, setting 
forth the causes of the war in which they were then engaged, they declare the murder 
of their brethren at the Fort blown up by our gun-boats, two years previously, to have 
been a principal cause of that war. Indeed, from a careful perusal of the documentary 
evidence, it appears very satisfactordy, that the efforts of our Government to sustain the 
institution of slavery, by the aid of physical force, involved us in the first Seminole war. 
Some slaves were taken and restored to their owners, but the number captured or mur- 
dered by our troops does not appear from any evidence within my knowledge. It is 
quite certain that great efforts were made to break up their haunts ; their villages were 
burned, their plantations destroyed, their corn and other provisions used for the support 
of the army, and they, together with the Indians, dispersed into various parts of the ter- 
ritory, to avoid the vengeance of our troops. This was effected by a wanton invasion 
of a territory belonging to a friendly power. When that power refused to surrender her 

* 12 American State Papers, 681. f Same Vol. 666. t Same Vol. 699. § Vide Gen. Jackson's letter 
to Secretary of War, May 5, 1818. || 12 Amer. State Papers, 787. H 12 American State Papers, 757. 



fortifications, on demand of our troops, our guns were turned upon them, and they were 
compelled to submit. 

When our commanding oflicer was called to an account for these violations of faith 
■with a power at peace with us, he replied, that '■'these fortifications had become the 
rendezvous for embodying hostile negroes and Indians and giving them comfort and 
2)rotection,^^* and no further enquiries were made upon the subject. 

The second Seminole, or the '■'Florida War^ 
The reader will recollect that by the treaty of Payne's Landmg, entered into in 1832, 
the Seminoles agreed to emigrate west of the Mississippi, and re-unite with the Creeks. 
His attention has also been called to the fact, that they refused to emigrate, least their 
%vives and children should be taken from them and held as slaves ; they therefore re- 
mained in Florida. The people of Florida were anxious to rid their territory of these 
Indians, and a large portion of their principal inhabitants united in a petition to the Pre- 
sident for their removal, in which they declare that " while this indomitable people con- 
tinue where they now are, the owners of slaves in our Territory, and even in the States 
contiguous, cannot for a moment, in any thing like security, enjoy this kind of proper- 
ty." The President referred the memorial to the Secretary of War, and he called upon 
the Agent of the United Stales, then with the Seminoles, for information. The agent 
(Genl. Wiley Thompson) replied, that " (he principal causes which operate to cherish 
this feeling hostile to emigration are, first, the fear that their re-union with the Creeks, 
M'hich will subject them to the government and control of the Creek national council, 
will be a surrender of a large amount of negro property now held by these people, to 
the Creeks as an antagonist claimant ;" and Genl. Thompson further adds : " This 
Creek claim to negroes now in possession of the Seminoles, which is supposed to be 
the first cause of hostility to the emigration of the latter tribe, grows out of the treaty of 
1821, between the United States and the former."! In order that the slaveholders in 
Florida, and the States contiguous, might enjoy their slavery with profit, our army was 
ordered to that Territory for the purpose of compelling the Indians to emigrate, and of 
capturing such slaves as had sought refuge among them. 

They captured four hundred and sixty negroes, who were adjudged slaves by 
staff officers of the army, to whom that duty was assigned, and delivered them over to 
interminable bondage. | We have no means by which we can determine the number of 
lives sacrificed in that war ; but it may safely be asserted, that the capture of each slave 
cost th^ lives of two white men, and at least eighty thousand dollars in cash, the most 
of which was drawn from the pockets of the people of the free States. The* whole ex- 
pense of the war is estimated at forty millions dollars. The moral guilt incurred, and 
the sacrifice of national character, cannot be estimated. Perhaps I ought to add, upon 
the authority of Genl. Jesup, that blood-hounds were also purchased, to act as auxili- 
aries to our army, and that blood-hounds, and soldiers, and officers, marched together 
under " the star spangled banner," in pursuit of the panting fugitives who had fled 
from southern oppression. § And blood-hounds, and soldiers, and officers, were paid for 
from the avails of northern industry ; while our people were not permitted to petition 
their servants to be relieved from such degradation. 

Most readers will recollect, that several slaves escaped from their masters in Florida 
in 1843, and fled to the Island of New Providence. We learn from the accounts pub- 
lished in the newspapers of that day, that an oflftcer and several men were detached 
from one of our ships of war, to search for and arrest the fugitives ; and that at least 
one of the revenue cutters, with its officers and crew, were employed for some days in 
a fruitless attempt to arrest their fellow men, who were thus fleeing from bondage. An 
agent was also sent to that Island, to demand of the Governor those who had sought 
protection from slavery under the British laws. 

In August, 1831, a few slaves in the upper part of Southampton county, Virginia, 
commenced an insurrection. Their whole numbers perhaps at no time exceeded one 
hundred. When this news reached Norfolk, the authorities of that city made immedi- 



» Vide Gen. Jackson's memorial to the Senate, 23d Feb., 1820. f Vide House Doc. No. 274, 1st Ses- 
sion 24th Cong.. + House Doc. 52, 3d Sess. 27th Congress. § House Doe. 125, 3d Sess. 25th Cong. 



10 

ate application to Colonel House, then commanding at Fortress Monroe, who, at 6 o'clock 
the next morning, embarked on board a steamboat, with three companies of United 
States troops, for the scene of action. He was re-inforced by a detachment from on 
board the United States ships Warren and Natchez, amounting in all to about three bun* 
dred men, who, without any authority whatever, thus turned out to suppress the effort;? 
of their fellow-men, who were exerting themselves to attain that liberty for which so 
much blood was shed during the war of our Revolution. Their efforts to regain the in- 
alienable rights with which God had endowed them, were as legal, and far more just and 
holy, than those of Washington and his associates during the Revolution; inasmuch as 
they fought for natural rights, while our fathers contended for political privileges. Yet so 
eager were these othcers of the U. States army and navy to put down thcbe attempts of 
their fellow-men to break the chains of oppression, that they waited for no orders or 
directions from proper authority, but, in violation of the Constitution, of law, and of 
justice, they sought to kill and murder those who were seeking to obtain their freedom.* 

Legislation by Congress for the purpose of establishing, supporting, and maintain- 
ing slavery. 

In 1778, and 1790, ten miles square, situated on both sides of the Potomac river, 
were conveyed, by deeds of cession from the States of Maryland and Virginia, to the 
United States, within which to establish the seat of our National Government. But 
the laws of those States were continued in force within the territory ceded, until Con- 
gress took possession of it. Congress subsequently accepted the grant, and by statute, 
approved 27th February, 1801, declared that the State laws (previously) in force with- 
in said district should continue until repealed. 

By virtue of this provision, all laws of Maryland, including the whole of her slave 
code, were established as law within that portion of said district which had been ceded 
by that State. So, nlso, the laws of Virginia, including her slave code, were establish- 
ed in that portion of the district ceded by that State. This provision in the act of Con- 
gress of 1801, is the foundation on which the institution of slavery and the slave trade 
is based within the District of Columbia.! Repeal this provision of the law of 1801, 
and slavery would cease and the slave trade perish. If Congress has no powers in 
respect to slavery, it certainly had no power to create and establish it, and to uphold 
and continue it until the present time. The slave trade, with all its revolting crimes 
and all its guilt, was established, and is now upheld and continued there by our laws ; 
and we are involved in its guilt. So, too, those barbarous laws, by which free people 
of color in that district are sold into slavery, and by which a slave, for certain offences, 
"is now liable to have his head cut off, his body divided, and set up in public places.'* 
Congress has, at various times, amended these laws, to favor the slaveholding interest; but 
never in favor of liberty. They have given to the city of Washington power to punish 
slaves corporeally,! and to employ a guard at the expense of the nation, now used to 
catch fugitive slav,es.§ Yet many speeches have been made, resolutions adopted, and 
I may almost say that volumes have been written, to prove that Congress has not the 
Constitutional power, nor the moral right, to repeal those laws of its own enacting. 
Even at this day. Northern men are heard to enquire, what have we to do with slavery 
in the District of Columbia? While Southern statesmen boldly declare tliat Congress 
possesses no power in relation to slavery within this District. 

It would require much time to mention all of the laws enacted by Congress for the 
benefit of slavery. I intend to call attention to some few of the most prominent. Con- 
gress has passed laws every year since 1790, in compliance with those treaties to which 
attention has been called. Under those treaties Congress has annually appropriated 
moheys to fulfil our stipulations in favor of slavery. And if we carry out those treaties 
we must continue such appropriations indefinitely. 

By act of Congress, approved March 2, 1807, the " American slave tracW^ was? 
regulated by C-ongress with as much formality as was the tariff of 1842. Ii 

At the close of the late war with England in 1815, our commissioners, at the treaty 



* Vide Niles's Register, August, 1831. t Vide opinion of B. F. Butler, Attorney General 6 vol. Ex. 
Doc. 1840. + Charter of the city of Washington. § Act of the 27th Congress. || It has lately been ju- 
dicially determined, that to carry a slave upon the high seas is to emancipate him. 



11 

of Ghent, obtained from the British Government a stipulation under which our Govern- 
, ment; acting as the agent of certain slaveholders, received one million two hundred 
>thousand dollars as a compensation for slaves who. during the war, left their masters 
and sought the enjoyment of liberty under the flag of the British nation. A small por- 
tion of that money is yet in the hands of Government, but Congress has frequently 
legislated for distributing portions among those claiming to have lost slaves during the 
war. Foreign slaves have been brought into the United States since the prohibition of 
the foreign slave trade, and persons convicted of thus violating the laws of our nation, 
have applied to Congress for relief from the penalties of diat law, and Congress has gen- 
erally granted it. Among the Seminole Indians who emigrated West were many col- 
■^ ored persons. Men, professing to own them as slaves, have applied to Congress for 
pay, and have actually been compensated tor their loss, by moneys collected from the 
freemen of the IVorth.* Representatives from the free States have not hesitated to ad- 
vocate the passage of such laws, and to tax their constituents for the' payment of such ■ 
claims. t 

When Mr. Van Buren acted as President of the United States, he obtained from the 
British Government twenty-five thousand pounds sterling, as a compensation to the 
9 owners of those slaves who were on board the ships " Comet" and " Encomium" 
when they were wrecked near the British Island of New Providence. W^hen he re- 
tired from office, there were in the hands of the Secretary of State, Mr. Forsyth, about 
seven thousand dollars unclaimed. This money he paid to the Treasurer of the United 
States. In 1842, the owners of these slaves called on the Treasurer for the money. 
He refused to pay it to them, thinking himself unauthorized to do so without a special 
law for that purpose. They then applied to Congress for relief. Thus, as late as 
1842, slave merchants dared to approach Congress, and ask the Representatives of the 
people to aid them in carrying out their speculations in the bodies of men, women, and 
children. And it is with pain and liiortification that the writer is constrained to say, 
that prominent statesmen of the North supported the bill, while they were not permit- 
ted to read, or refer a petition from their constituents, respectfully asking to be relieved 
from the expense and crime of supporting that traffic in our own species. 

THE LAWS OF FLORIDA. 

By the organic law of Florida, the people of that Territory were authorized to elect 
a local legislature. The legislature so elected was authorized to pass laws which were 
to be submitted to Congress, and if not disapproved by that body, they became the 
iaws of the Territory. Thus Congress, by its agent, the Territorial legislature, enacted 
the laws and became responsible for them. Those statutes provides that free colored 
people coming into that Territory to reside, and refusing ^o leave it, shall be sold into 
slavery. Another statute contains a provision by which free persons residing within 
■ the Territory, and refusing to leave it, may be sold as slaves. Another law provides, 
that when a' judgment shall be obtained against a free colored person, and shall remain 
five days unpaid, such person shall be sold into slavery to pay the debt. In short, 
Florida, while under the control of Congress, has had the most barbarous code of slave 
laws within the United States. For these laws, Congress was responsible. Northern 
Representatives have involved us in the moral guilt attached to those laws. They were 
enacted especially for the benefit of slavery, without Constitutional authority, and in 
total disregard of our rights and of the rights of mankind. 

In 1839, Congress passed a special law giving five thousand dollars to the officers and 

* Vrde " act for relief of Depevster and others," approved 17lh June, 1844. 1 During the 27th Con- 
gress, the Hon. Ezra Dean, of Ohio, reported a bill for compensating the owners of slaves stolen by the 
followers of General Jackson's army while in Florida in 1814. The bill was sustained by Inm m a set 
speech. But its real nature being explained, it was rejected, only 36 members voting for it. Nearly 
one-half of the slaveholding members voted against this bill, reported and sustained by a Representative 
from Ohio. J Vide Journal of the House of RepresenUatives, 2d session, 27th Cangress. 
, Note.— During the 1st session 28th Congress, Hon. C. J. Ingersoll, Chairman of the Committee On 
Foreign Affairs, reported a bill to pay to the Spaniards claiming to own the .slaves on board the Amis- 
tad, $70,000 ; but the subject being discussed on the question of printing the report, the bill was never 
called up for action. 



12 

crew of the two gun boats sent by Commodore Patterson to blow up the fort on the 
Apalachicola river, as has been staled, and by which two hundred and seventy men, 
women, and children Avere murdered in cold blood for their love of liberty. The peo- 
ple of the free States were not only involved in the crime of those murders, but they 
were compelled to pay a bounty to those who committed them.* 

Our relations with Hayti. 
^ The existence of a black republic in the island of Hayti was early regarded as a danger- 
ous precedent, should tlie fact become known to the slave population of our Southern 
States. To harrass those people, and to prevent, as far as convenient, all intercourse be- 
tween that island and our slave States, in order to keep the slaves of those States in total^^' 
ignorance of the liberty enjoyed by their brethren in Hayti, Congress, by special law, ap- 
proved 28th February, 1806, prohibited all commercial intercourse between the ports of 
the U. States and those of Hayti, (not in possession and under the acknowledged govern- 
ment of France.)! The law provided, that after due notice of the passage of the act, any 
vessel trading from any port of the United States to any of the prohibited ports in St. 
Domingo, together with tiie cargo of such vessel, should be forfeited, &c. The law 
subsequently expired by its own limitation, but to this day our Government has refused v 
to acknowledge the independence of Hayti, or to establish commercial relations with 
its government. Thus the freemen of the Northern States are deprived of ihe profits 
which they would derive from established commercial relations between the two gov- 
ernments, in order that Southern slavery may be sustained and contuiued. 

Attempts to obtain fugitive slaves from Canada. 
On the 10th of May, 1828, the House of Representatives, by resolution, " requested 
the President to open negotiations with the British Government, in the view to obtain - 
an arrangement, whereby fugitive slaves, who have taken refuge in Canada, may be sur- 
rendered."! The Executive had anticipated the wishes of the House, but his efferts 
failed, as will be seen hereafter. 

The purchase of Florida. 

While Florida was owned by Spain, it afforded an asylum to the slaves who escaped 
from the contiguous States; for, by the Law of Nations, no government is bound to sur- 
render fugitive slaves. The bondmen of Georgia and Alabama fled into Florida, and 
erected the fort referred to heretofore. Without law, and without precedent, and in 
violation of his constitutional powers, Gen. Jackson demanded of the Governor of Pen- 
sacola, "Me destruction of the fort, and return of the negroes.^^^ He further stated, 
that unless this were done by the Spanish authorities, the troops of the United States 
would do it. After the fort was destroyed, the negroes collected together in considera- 
ble force upon the Suwanee rivei, and were in gteater or less numbers scattered through- 
out yarious portions of Florida. They were found at Barancas, St. Mark's, and Pensa- 
cola. Gen. Jackson, in his memorial to the Senate, speaking of those posts, declared, 
that " they had become the rendezvous for embodying hostile negroes and Indians, 
and for giving them comfort and protection." "These posts (said he) had been alter- 
nately substituted for the fort on the Apalachicola, (the fort blown up,) and thither the 
negroes and Indians retreated for shelter after their defeat at Mickasuky." In his letter 
to the Secretary of War, dated Nov'r 28, 1818, Gen. Jackson says: " The situation of 
Florida, in relation to our country, is peculiar, and demands the early attention of our 
Government — her territory will always prove an asylum to the disaffected and restless 
savage, as well as to a more dangerous population, unless some energetic government 
can be established to control and exclude these interlopers.''' Indeed, every reader 
must see, that while Florida belonged to any foreign power, the slaves of the South 
would flee to it for protection. The purchase of Florida had become necessary 
to the slaveholding interest. The purchase was therefore made, and five millions 
of dollars taken from the people and paid over for the support of slavery. Let no one 
say that we obtained lands in return for our money. Gen. Jesup has informed us, that 



* 9 vol. Laws U. S. 1065. \ Laws U. S., vol. 4., page 4. J Vide Journal of that date. § 12 Ameri- 
can State Papers, 750. 



13 



«' those lands would not pay for the medicines used by our troops ivhile removing 
the Indians:' Indeed, for years those lands have been offered gratis to those who 
would settle upon them ; but as yet wt have been unable to give them away. Neither 
let it be said that we have received the revenue in return for our money. The govern- 
ment of the Territory has cost us probably twenty times the amount of revenue receiT|red. 
The truth is, the slave interest demanded the purchase, and it was made.* 
Svppression of the Right of Peittion. 

On the 26th of May, 1836, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution, which 
excluded from being read or considered, ''all petitions, memorials, resolutions, and 
propositions, relating in any way, or to any extent whatever, to the subject of sla- 
t;ery."t Thus, while the institution of slavery, and the slave trade in the District of 
Columbia and in the Territory of Florida, were upheld and maintained by acts of Con- 
gress, the people were prohibited from asking a repeal of those laws ! This resolution: 
ceased to have any effect at the adjournment of Congress. 

On the 18th of December, 1837, a member from Vermont presented to the House a 
petition, signed by some six hundred inhabitants of that State, praying the abolition of 
slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia. On the 20th it came up for 
consideration, when the member presenting it, (Hon. Mr. Slade,) moved to refer it, 
with instructions, to the Committee on the District of Columbia, directing them to re- 
port a bill for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in said District, and addressed 
the House for the purpose of assigning his reasons for such instructions. Much confu- 
sion ensued; a portion of the southern members withdrQ,w from the Hall, threatenmg- 
an immediate dissolution of the Union. Others called Mr. Slade to order; and finally 
the Speaker declared him out of order, and immediately the House adjourned.! It was 
said that the southern members held a meeting that night, and agreed upon a resolution 
similar to that adopted in 1836.§ The next morning a slaveholding member from Vir- 
ginia presented the resolution, which was adopted by a vote of 135 to 60. |1 The vote 
was taken by ayes and noes, and when the clerk called the name of "John Quincy 
Adams," that venerable statesman arose and said, '' I hold the resolution to be a vio- 
lation of the Constitution of the United States; of the right of my constituents and' 
of the people of the United States to petition, arid of my right to freedom of speech 
as a member of this House^'^ 

At the session of 1838-9 the House was not fully organized until the 9th of Decem- 
ber. On the evening of the 10th a meeting was said to have been held by the Demo- 
cratic party of both free antl slave States, at which resolutions were agreed upon, de- 
claring that Congress had no constitutional power to abolish slavery in the District of 
Columbia, and excluding all petitions upon the subject of slavery from being read or 
referred by the House. The resolutions were said to have been drawn up by a distin- 
guished statesman of the south, but the infamy of presenting them was awarded to a 
northern man. They were accordingly presented on the morning of the Uth of De- 
cember, and adopted by a vote of 137 to 66.** 

At the commencement of the next Congress the substance of these resolutions were- 
adopted in the form of a rule of the House, and continued to be the law of that body 
until the 2d session of the 28th Congress, when they were discarded, and the right of 
petition was regained after a struggle of nine years. An attempt to renew the rule was 
made on the first day of the 1st session 29th Congress, but it failed by a vote of 84 to 12K 
Suppression of the Freedom of Speech. 
Most of the members of the House regarded the freedom of speech suppressed to the 
same extent as was the right of petition. Such was the construction given to the rule 
by the Speaker, that he usually declared every member out of order who spoke disre- 

* In 1839 we paid to custom-house officers at St. Augvistine and St. John's in Florida two thousand 
six hundred and fifty dollars for collecting nothing, f Vide Journal of 26th May, 1836. t Vide J ournal 
of 1837, 125. k Various newspaper accounts. || Vide Journal, 127, 128, 129. H Vide Journal, 133. 
** Vide journal of 3d session 25th Congress, p. 51, 52. , • j, ♦!,„, 

Note —Nine days after the adoption of these resolutions a coffle of thirty slaves chained together, 
and followed by about the same number of females, who were permitted to travel unchamed, were drivea 
past the Capitol, on their way to a southern mai-ket. 



14 

spectfuUy of slavery, even when that subject came collaterally under consideratic 
But while northern members were thus compelled to keep silence in regard to t 
'■'^ peculiar institution,'''' and their constituents were taxed for its support, southe 
members were permitted to assail, in such terms as they pleased, those who nianifesti 
any degree of restlessness under the unequal privileges enjoyed by members from tl 
different sections of tlie Union. But while northern members were thus compelled 
hold a place somewhere between the supercilious overseer and the trembling slav 
they were often called to vote for the support of an institution whicli they held in p( 
feet abhorrence. In Jaiuiary, 1842, while this rule, denying to the people the right 
petition in relation to slavery, was in force, Mr. Adams presented the petition of sor 
forty inhabitants of Haverhill, Massachusetts, praying that a peaceable dissolution 
the Union might take place. He moved its reference to a select committee, with 
structions to report against the prayer of the petition, and to assign the reasons for 
doing. But a slaveholding member, regarding the liberty of thus presenting the pe 
tions of northern men as dangerous to the slave power, immediately oiTered a resoluti 
to censure Mr. Adams for this exercise of his constitutional right and solemn duty. S( 
eral days were spent in the trial, when the slaveholders, tinding themselves unable to cai 
' the resolution without discussion, it was laid upon the table, wliere it slept the sleep of dea 
The President having communicated to the Senate the instruciions forwarded to c 
minister in England, directing him to use his etl'orts to obtain from that Governmcn 
'Compensation for the slaves who had taken possession of the slave ship Creole, a 
the Senate having gravely referred the subject to a committee of that body for consi( 
ration, a member from Ohio offered a series of resolutions, denying the power of t 
Federal Government to involve the people of the free States in the support of the sla 
trade. For thus presuming to assert the constitutional rights of the people of the fi 
States, he was at once arraigned before the body of which he was a member, and wi 
out being permitted to speak in his own defence, a resolution of censure was pass 
upon him, and he was driven from his seat in Congress.* This act of unprecedeni 
tyranny aroused a portion of the northern press, and the constitutional rights of 1 
people were declared in such tones of firm determination, that no attempts were sub 
quently made to silence those who spoke of slavery, while they kept within parliann 
lary rules. 

Extension of slavery by the Federal Government. 

By the terms of the Federal Constitution, slaves are included in the federal ratio 
representation, counting five slaves equal to three freemen. Tiiis provision of the Ci 
stitution is strongly opposed to Northern interests and Northern honor. But to sh 
that the framers of that instrument had no expectation that this most obnoxious feati 
was to be extended, and Northern men further degraded by it, I will only refer 
reader to the ordinance of 1787, by which a perpetual covenant between the people 
. the Northwest Territory and the Federal Government was entered into, forever to ( 
elude slavery from said territory. This comprised all of the territory then claimed 
the United States, and this ordinance was adopted some two months prior to the fori: 
tion of the Constitution, and while the convention that framed it were in session. 1 
subsequent purchase of Louisiana was declared by Mr. Jefl'erson to be entirely with 
Constitutional autliority. But the admission of Louisiana, Missouri, and Arkansas, 
slave States, thus giving to the holders of slaves in those States a political influence 
the Federal Government over the freemen of the North, in proportion to the numbei 
their slaves, was a most fatal blOw to the Constitution, and to the rights, the interes 
and the honor of the free States. To their admission the people of the free States s 
initted, and the precedent thus established has been seized upon by the slavehold; 
power to justify another outrage upon this charter of our rights, which, in the minds 
reflecting men, leaves little hope for the permanency of our Federal Union. 

When the annexation of Texas was first agitated, all parties concurred in reject 
the proposal as unconstitutional. The Federal Executive declared that the powei 
unite this nation with a foreign government was unknown to our Constitution. 



* Vide Journal of the House of Representatives of22d March, 1842. 



10 

early discussions in both Houses of Confess, the proposed annexation was at- 
ipted to be justified solely upon the ground of its being necessary to the prosperity 
he slave interest. But the advocates finally seized upon the purchase of Louisiana 
its subsequent admission as a precedent; and Texas is even now claimed as a part 
he United States, and the work of annexation will doubtless be consummated during 
present session of Congress. Then will the people of the free States be degraded 
he political level of foreign slaves. We shall then reach a point at which our love 
iberty, our feelings of independence, and our sense of honor, will be tested. Quiet 
mission will be disgrace to ourselves, destruction to our rights, and subversion to the 
istitution. 

Admission of Florida as a slave State. 
laving paid five millions of dollars for the purchase of Florida, and forty millions io 
;h the fugitive slaves, and some millions to maintain a civil government there, it was 
nied necessary, in order to secure the ascendancy of tlie slave power, to admit Flori- 
nto the Union as a State, " with all her sins upon her," giving to her a p(|litical in- 
nce in the Federal Government in proportion to the number of staves she holds, 
nting five slaves equal to three Northern freemen. This was done by act of Con- 
ss, passed at the 2d session of the 28th Congress, allowing but two hours for its dis- 
sion,* one of which was occupied by a slavehokling friend of the Union, in an en- 
I'or to convince gentlemen of the free States of the relative worth of Northern free- 
1 Avhen compared with Southern slaveholders. 

Attempts of the Executive to sustain the American Slave Trade. 

t is now generally understood that slavery, being an abridgement of natural right, can 
Y exist by force of positive municipal law, and is therefore confined strictly to the 
sdiction creating it. Thus slavery exists in Virginia by force of the laws of that 
;e. While within that State a master may shoot his slave, if he runs from him; but 
e he to do that in Ohio, he would be hanged for the murder, for the reason that the 
s of Virginia cannot extend into Ohio. Yet, a trade in slaves between the northern 
e States and those lying further South, and also with Texas, has been carried on by 
for many years : still, in point of law, every slave thus taken from the jurisdiction 
lie slave State, is free the moment he leaves the bounds of such State and enters up- 
;he high seas. 

n 1831, " The Comet," a slave ship from Alexandria, forN. Orleans, was wrecked 
;he Island of Abacco, and her slaves and crew were taken to Nassau, in the Island of 
iV Providence. The island being under British laws, the slaves were of course free 
oon as they landed on British territory. They had been free under our laws, from 
moment they were a league from our coast. Thus the reader will see that by the 
5 of both nations they were freemen. But the slave merchants, finding themselves 
ble to control the movements of their human cargo, called upon the authorities of the 
id for assistance, to aid them in holding their fellow men in subjection. But, there 
ig no law there, by which one foreigner could control the liberty of another, all aid 
refused, and the slave-mongers returned to the United States, and claimed the as- 
ince of the National Government to aid them in carrying out their attempted spec- 
on in human flesh, by demanding of the British Government a compensation for 
r loss. 

1 1833, the brig " Encomium," from Charleston, for N. Orleans, with slaves, was 
eked near Abacco, and her slaves obtained their liberty in the same way. 
1 1835, " The Enterprise," another slave ship was driven into Bermuda, a British 
, by stress of weather, and her slaves were also liberated by force of British laws, 
hese repeated losses alarmed the slave merchants, and threatened seriously to affect 
orospects of those who were engaged in breeding slaves for market. The Executive 
red upon the subject with great zeal and energy. Instructions were sent to our Min- 
at London, directing him to make demand of the British Government for reparation 
e slave merchants who owned these cargoes of human beings. Not because the 

ide 2fl session 28th Congresa. 



16 

British Government or any subject of the British Crown had gained any thing in cons 
quence of these persons having obtained their freedom; but because the slavedealers h; 
sustained a loss, in consequence of the English Government not having enacted la\ 
authorizing the American slave trade. He was informed that this feature of the Briti 
laws " was too dangerous to a large section of our country to be tolerated.''^ T! 
demand was made, and as our minister was himself an extensive slaveholder, he enter 
upon the subject with so much zeal, that his assertions were soon carried far beyoi 
the bounds of truth. In an official communication to Lord Palmerston, he declar 
that our '■'■Government had more than once, in the most solemn manner, determin 
that slaves killed in the service of the U. States, even in a state of war, were to be i 
garded as property, and not as persons, and the government held responsible for them 
By means of the most unceasing energy, and misrepresentations on the part of our mi 
ister, the British Governm*ent were induced to pay over to our Executive the sum 
j625,000 sterling, for the benefit of those who claimed to own the persons onboard "t 
Comet" and "the Encomium." These vessels were wrecked, and the persons onboc 
obtained their liberty prior to the taking effect of the general emancipation act, which 1 
erated the slaves in the British West India Islands. But the "Enterprise" had enter 
Bermuda after the taking effect of that law, and the British ministers refused all comp< 
sation to the slave owners on board that ship. Partial success, however, stimulated t 
Executive to a more vigorous prosecution of the claims of the unfortunate slavedeah 
■who owned the cargo of "the Enterprise." Fresh instructions were sent to our minis 
at London; and to aid the Executive with the influence of the Senate, resolutions decl 
ing the law of nations to authorize a slave ship when driven by stress of weather to ( 
ter the port of a friendly power, and to hold control of the slaves on board until she ( 
reflt, were introduced into the Senate by the Hon. J. C. Calhoun; and although th 
fallacy was apparent to every county court lawyer, yet they were adopted by the Sen 
without a dissenting voice. Most of the Senators from free States, however, refused 
vote.* To aid the Executive still further, the committee on foreign affairs in the Hoi 
of Representatives made a report, in which this subject was mentioned, and an alius; 
was made to the unpleasant consequences which would follow a final rejection of 1 
demand by Great Britain.! 

While this was the state of the diplomatic correspondence between the tAvo gove 
ments, the "Hermosa," another slave ship, was wrecked, and her slaves obtained th 
freedom in the same manner as those on board the other ships. In October, 1842, sc 
after the wreck of the Hermosa, the Creole left Richmond, Va., for New Orleans, w 
slaves on board. While at sea, the slaves rose upon the crew, killed one of them, s 
took the ship to Nassau, and, leaving her to the control of her captain, they went 
shore in pursuit of their own happiness. These circumstances appear to have arous 
the whole slaveholding interest. Instructions were again transmitted to our minister 
London, and he was exhorted to press the demand upon the British Government for co 
pensation for the slaves on board those ships. The Senate called for the correspoi 
ence, discussion ensued, in which grave Senators threatened destruction to those islai 
if compensation were not granted to the slave merchants who had thus lost their carg( 
of slaves. At this time a member of the House of Representatives introduced reso 
tions denying the constitutional power of the Federal Government to involve the peo 
of the free States in the support of the slave trade. As heretofore stated, the meml 
was censured, and driven from Congress, for thus presuming to assert the doctrines 
the Constitution; but the subject was instandy laid aside, and no more discussions wi 
had in regard to the slave trade. Whether the Executive continued to press the dema 
upon Great Britain, is unknown to the public. If, however, there was any further c 
respondence in regard to the loss of those slaves, it yet remains concealed in the E: 
cutive port folio. 



* Vide -Journal of the Senate, 1st eession 26th Congrcsg, | Vide Journal House of Representati^ 
2d session 26th Congress. 



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